![]() ![]() To tell the story of John and his times, and scan the 12th-century muddle of wars, uneasy alliances, power shifts and inter-dynastic marriages, Penman highlights the career of John via the life of his illegitimate daughter, Joanna, whom he married off to Prince Llewelyn, overlord of northern Wales. ![]() ![]() Penman does not give John the hero's halo she awarded to Richard, but still this is a convincing portrait of a fascinating (and fictionally, at least) often neglected king. Historians have for some time been declaring that Bad King John of England (1166-1216) of Magna Carta fame was not that bad a king however, like Richard III, another favorite villain (who has been enthusiastically rehabilitated by several recent novelists, including Penman in her The Sunne In Splendour, 1982), John has been charged (undoubtedly rightfully) with nephew murder and various other bloody excesses. ![]()
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